Feminist reflections on fitness, sport, and health
Author: Sam B
Philosopher, feminist, parent, and cyclist! Co-founder of Fit Is a Feminist Issue, co-author of Fit at Mid-Life: A Feminist Fitness Journey, published by Greystone Books.
I always know when it’s coming because past Failure Day posts start to show up in the blog stats.
What’s Failure Day?
“International Day for Failure is a unique celebration that happens every year on October 13. It originated in Finland in 2010, started by a group of university students.
The day encourages everyone to view failures as setbacks and essential steps towards success. It’s a day to embrace mistakes and learn from them, promoting growth and courage.
The importance of this day lies in changing how we think about failure. Typically seen as something negative, International Day for Failure helps shift that perspective to something more constructive. It teaches us that failures are part of the journey to success.”
Alison wrote recently that she’s strength training, if she has to. She didn’t ask for advice but I couldn’t help myself. I quickly jumped into the comments section sharing all the things I love about lifting weights and training for strength. I ended with, “Sorry! I just love strength training and want to share the love. Hope you find enthusiasm for it.”
By the time I was done, it pretty much was a “Sam’s six things” blog post.
Sam’s “cultivate strength” tshirt with a wild looking raccoon on the front
So here’s the six things I love about strength training.
🏋️ How quick strength gains come in the early days. It’s very gratifying. I find running and cycling fitness slow to build but strength training isn’t like that for me.
🏋️ It’s also a bit vain, but I prefer the way I look when I’m more muscular. I pledged not to body shame thin runners, but for myself, I still like the way I look when I’m lifting weights.
🏋️ Strength training is super efficient. You don’t need a full hour to workout. That’s very much unlike running, swimming, and cycling, where the long efforts can take hours.
🏋️I love feeling powerful, and the way that strength translates to real life. Let me move that heavy appliance for you! See Sam lifts heavy things in the wild.
🏋️ Strength sticks around longer than running fitness. You can actually take time off without big losses.
🏋️ It’s cool how much strength training helps me on the bike.
And a bonus thing, you don’t need to be small to be strong. In fact, there’s lots to be said about big women and strength. See here and here.
Sam doing weighted walking lunges at the gym.
How about you? Do you love, loathe, or tolerate strength training? Why? Chime in in the comments below.
We are currently in the season of bright days, brisk mornings and chilly evenings, warm afrnoons, and brightly coloured leaves. In the early morning and evening light it looks like the trees are on fire. It’s pretty spectacular.
I love riding my bike in this weather. I enjoyed what was likely my last ice cream of the season the other day, at the Boathouse in Guelph. They’re on their last week of the season, open until 8 pm in the evenings.
By the way, that’s a kiddie size. It’s dairy free peanut butter and chocolate.
It’s also great weather for walking Cheddar the dog. Both of our older dogs, Cheddar and Charlie, are much happier walking in the autumn cool.
That’s my mum, fit feminist Kathleen, walking her dogs above. We all love this weather but none of us enjoy the dark, wet days to come so we’re all making sure to get out and enjoy the autumn sun.
How’s your October going so far my North American and European friends? (I have lots of family and friends in Australia and New Zealand and I know it’s spring time there!)
With three months left in the year, it seemed like a good time to check in with the Fit is a Feminist Issue blog team about how our words of the year for 2025 are working out. Here’s the original WOTY2025 post and our October check-ins.
Cate and Pathways
I picked “pathways” back in January, thinking about turning 60 and what the rest of my life might look like. I think I’ve done some tremendous things from choosing new pathways — including really digging into my creative side and completing the first draft of a novel. It has been a more challenging year in some unexpected ways as well (ranging from a sidelining nerve problem in my foot to lots of family unheaval), but I feel like my feet are firmly on the ground. I still don’t know what I’m going to do when I grow up but I have a lot of clarity about what matters to me.
Nat and Steady
I’ve stuck with my bicycle commute, daily dog walks and regular strength training. Physiotherapy has really paid off for helping me improve my balance. I’m feeling steady on my feet and my bike. Steady as she goes!
Nicole and Believin’
Believin’ – I guess it’s a form of believing to continuing doing the things that anchor you while making your way through a year of grief. Not sold on that, though.
Sam and Engage
I picked “engage” for a year that began with research leave, and I think it worked well for that. I’ve also tried to engage more with friends and family and spend more time with people I love. Now I’m back on campus re-engaging with my dean’s role. I’m still struggling to find ways to engage politically which I think we all have to do, given the state of the world.
Catherine and Compass
Compass was my word for 2025. I said that I had some ideas about where I wanted to go with plans and people and pursuits, but could use some help with navigation. That’s pretty much been true this year. I feel like I’ve asked for and gotten a lot of help from friends and colleagues and family in finding my way to some goals, and also getting clearer about leaving behind some old goals that don’t make so much sense now. I’m happier with my life as it is and with where it’s going. Who can ask for more than that? 😊
Tracyand Confidence
I chose “confidence” because I wanted to stare down my insecurities. I had to remind myself what my WOTY was, which indicates that it hasn’t been an effective guide in the way the WOTY usually is for me (like a touchstone or theme that I can return to in a conscious way throughout the year). But I’ll call on it for these last three months as I put together my last two classes of my teaching career, settle into a new city, and get to know my new camera mirrorless camera after using a DSLR for so many years. I can do this!
Diane and Enjoy
I still haven’t figured out Enjoy. I love my job but I took on too much when Dad was ill, and that continued after he died and I took on big responsibilities for settling his estate and caring for Mom. I did manage snippets of work joy with some fun special projects and getting to know the lovely folks at the pool where I lifeguard most often.
Same with friendships and the cottage – I managed a bit of enjoyment but not the full-on relaxation and quality I hoped for.
Art? Not a chance! I did manage a week away for a craft conference and I am just finishing an on-line course in a string craft that has fascinated me for decades.
I’m already starting to think that next year’s word will need to be acceptance. I have used it before, but more in the context of aging. This time, it will be in the context of learning to be satisfied that I can’t do all the things, but also that I will never stop trying.
What I thought: Wow, that’s a lot of November hate right there. But the good thing I’ve realized is that I have successfully isolated my dislike of November to November. I think that works well for me. Back when I was a very nervous flier, I read a bunch of counselling books about fear of flying and they all talked about fear of airports, fear of booking tickets, fear of sitting in planes and I realized I was actually doing okay. My fear of flying was limited to flying. Who on earth, I wondered, is scared of sitting on plans on the runway? Lots of people, it turns out. Anyway, I’ve also been chipping away at November-hate itself. I’ve been concentrating on the good things–Mallory’s big concert and Sarah’s birthday! And buying lights to help with all the dark. I also have given in to starting Christmas celebrations early. November needs some holiday spirits, I decided.
What I’ve done so far to get ready for November:
🍁🌧️🥶I bought a bright, floral, pink raincoat from Scribbler, a New Zealand company. I bought it because a) it’s beautiful and bright, and b) you should buy raincoats in places it actually rains a lot and Aotearoa is seriously rainy.
Sam in her bright pink Scribbler raincoat
🍁🌧️🥶 We’ve set time aside to celebrate Sarah’s birthday and to go see Mallory sing in the Karen Schussler Singers concert, Go for Baroque!
Go for Baroque!
🍁🌧️🥶 We’re also going to Montreal for a weekend around the time of Sarah’s birthday.
🍁🌧️🥶 On the fitness front, we’ll be back Zwifting, racing the evenings away.
🍁🌧️🥶 I’m also planning on doing some cooking–making vegan soup. I think my favourite is white bean and kale. How about you?
🍁🌧️🥶 November is also Gratitude Month and I’ll certainly be keeping up my Three Good Things practise. I’ve come to really enjoy that partly because it makes me look for good things.
🍁🌧️🥶 Finally because so much of what’s horrifying these days is political, especially looking south of the border, I’m trying to think of a political commitment I can make to stay engaged. I’m just horrified at the racism and transphobia fueling US policy and at what’s happening to US universities. And I’m very scared of external influence on Canadian elections, not to mention all the 51st state talk. I’m giving money where I can to causes I care about. I’m open to suggestions about what else we can do. Comment below.
A brown leaf with water droplets, Nikolett Emmert (@niki_emmert) | Unsplash Photo Community
For years I’ve been a big fan of working out on Mondays. I like that it sets the time for the week.
But that plan isn’t going so well this fall. First, I’m a bit of a weekend warrior, riding bikes and playing outside. Second, Tuesday is a big workout day with personal training in the morning and Zwift racing in the evening. Third, Tuesday is also my university seminar and I tend to spend Sunday preparing.
So I’m reminding myself it’s okay to take it easy Monday. I can love Monday without working out. I reread an older post of mine about Mondays. It’s good advice. I need to take it.
I won’t swear to this, but right now, here’s how I am feeling about the twelve months of the year. This is my ranking.
I started thinking about this as we head into the dark fall months, focusing on how much I dislike late fall, and then I decided to focus instead on how much I liked other months and seasons.
Obviously I’m a summer person!
😎July: The most summery of the summer months, as an academic administrator it’s the quietest work month of the year, I can work reasonable days and still get stuff done. It’s also full of bike rides and boat trips and warm enough to swim outside just about anywhere local. Also, I usually take some holidays in July.
🍉August: It’s my birthday month and gearing up for back to school. The campus comes alive again. We usually go canoe tripping in August. August is a month of very good things including local peaches and corn.
🚴June: This is the month of my favourite conference, the Canadian Philosophical Association and it’s also Pride and University Convocation. It’s warm enough for camping and long bike rides too.
✏️September: My WOW month. It’s beautiful and full of warm days but also back to school energy. I wish I could bottle that energy for March. It’s a great time of year for canoe camping and long bike rides.
🌸May: If September bookends the summer months at one end, May does it at the other. I love spring gardens before the heat and dry days ruin things. I love the family dinners outside and the lengthening daylight.
🍂October: The weather is starting to get crisp and cool. The leaves are incredibly beautiful. There are often some good October conferences. And it’s Halloween.
🎄December: It’s the holidays and there’s a break in the school year and I get to see my family. So yes, it might be dark but there are lots of lights on the tree and music in church. Also, the food is good. I love the cozy of Christmas.
⛈️April: I wish I liked spring more. It’s a season of hope. Sadly, in this part of Canada it’s also a season of continual dashed expectations. We tend to go straight from cold rainy days to scorching heat.
💕February: Well, there’s Valentine’s Day, so there’s that. There is also a university break week. Often, there are also some of those bright winter days that I love so much. But wow, winter is starting to drag on by February.
☘️March: I think March is actually the worst month of the academic year, but this is an overall ranking not a ranking of months from an academic perspective. Why the worst? Morale is at an all time low. There’s grading ahead. We’re tired. The students are tired. The weather is usually not good for any outdoor activity. It’s no longer winter and doesn’t yet feel like spring.
❄️January: January feels like the longest month of the year. It’s dark and often here, the weather can be miserable. The two bright sides? Those occasional bright, cold, snowy winter days that are perfect for fat biking and or just walking the dog. Also, the days are getting longer. Sometimes there’s vacation.
Lots of work, lots of evening and weekend university events. But also lots of lifting weights and bike riding and walking Cheddar the dog.
😃Some September highlights: I really enjoyed riding in the Spinning Wheels Relay (the Pedaling for Parkinsons cross country ride). Sarah and I rode from London to Stratford (with Susan). Then we rode from Waterloo to Guelph, and Oakville to the downtown lakefront in Toronto. Highlights of the highlight? The trumpet fanfare that greeted us in Stratford! And riding the last kilometre into Toronto on Lake Shore Drive with a police escort.
Listen with the sound on!
😟Some September struggles: OMG. Every September I forget what September is like. I love it. I hate it. So much going on, so much energy all around me. I sometimes wish I could bottle that energy on campus and pour it out into the air in March. What kills me every year though is sleep. I have university events on most evenings and early starts to my days. I go from 8 hours sleep a night, to 5 or 6 on weeknights and then 9 or 10 on the weekends. Famine and feast sleep schedules don’t suit me. It’ll be better by mid-October but until then, if you see me yawning, you know why.
Checking in with numbers:
🔢Kilometres ridden: I’m aiming for 2500 kilometers this year, having adjusted my goals to something reasonable. Will I make it? That’s a lot of Zwifting in my future. Stay tuned!
🔢Numbers of workouts: I scaled that back too, aiming for 350 instead of my stretch goal of 400. I’m at 288 now. 94 days left in 2025 so that’s very doable, especially now we’re back to twice-weekly personal training.
Check out my weighted walking lunges with my new knees. I did eight lunges on each side for three sets. I was very proud of this.
Sam’s walking lunges
🔢Books
My favourite fiction book so far this year is Play World by Adam Ross. But I’m also reading lots of science fiction. I made my way through the Bobiverse series and started in on books by John Scalzi. I loved Old Man’s War, his first.
But the nonfiction book I read this year that I strongly recommend to readers of this blog is Serene Khader’s Faux Feminism. Enjoy!
Those who’ve been reading the blog for a while know that cooking is not my thing. And if I didn’t like cooking at the start of the pandemic, I really didn’t like it by the end of the pandemic.
I think I’ve finally recovered from all the pandemic cooking. So much cooking! Yes, Sarah did most of it, but really, there was enough to go around. We even had a night shift of adult kids making chocolate chip cookies and banana bread in the middle of the night.
Mostly when it’s my turn to be the week night cook, I use food that comes in meal kits with “mise en place” instructions. I’m a big fan for reasons of end of day decision fatigue, helping to commit to healthy eating, and avoiding food waste. But I’m actually getting tired of making GoodFood dinners every night. Eating out is an alternative, but it is extremely expensive right now.
So I’m rethinking this cooking thing.
My 25 in 2025 list even included learning to make a new vegan main course.
Next, a friend made a wonderful vegetable dish. She told me the recipe was from this book. I then acquired the book. (I know, who is this person? What happened to Sam?)
All these things came together and I made Potato and Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Olives, Feta and Arugula from the Six Seasons book.
A version of the recipe is here. The recipe has dairy feta, but vegan feta is easy to find. Or you can just leave it out as there’s already a lot going on.
Next, I made a summer salad that a friend was raving about — featuring peaches, grilled corn, and haloumi. Yum! I made this version with pistachios and pickled onions. Yum! Again, there’s vegan haloumi available these days.
As summer turns into fall, I’m thinking about soups and stews. I’m also looking forward to some of our pandemic favourites, like that black pepper tofu dish that all my feminist philosopher friends learned to make, sharing the recipe on social media. I’ve also been craving tofu and cauliflower wings. And simple things like baked potatoes, sweet potato and black bean chili, and apple pies.
Bring on the fall food. I’m ready!
What are your favourite meals to cook in the fall months? Leave recipes and links in the comments below!
